Some Family
by TaintedExile
Summary: Two brothers discover they've made the next iconic leap in evolution.Their new powers have the potential to change everything in their lives. How will these changes affect them? Will they make the right choices? Will their family survive a rogue son? R&R!
1. Introduction

Some family, huh?

The alarm rang 7 AM on a Monday morning in the Garnel home just outside Miami Florida. Benjamin "Ben" Garnel groaned as he left the warmth of his bed, knowing he had to get up quick and get to school soon.

"Get up! The alarm rang!" Ben yelled to his twin brother Bradley, still lazing in his bed.

Ben got to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He was tall, about 6 feet 1 inch, slim but not skinny, dark brown eyes staring right back at him through a veil of long messy hair. He got his comb from the drawer and began his daily (and lengthy) routine of suppressing his rebellious hair.

Another day of school was upon him. Another day filled with insane boredom including Mrs. Nadeau's history class. From what Ben's friend Peter told him, they're gonna watch a video on the tranquil revolution in Britain.

"Joy." Ben thought to himself as he set the comb down.

"You're not gonna spend 45 minutes on your perm, Rapunzel, I need the bathroom too!" Shouted Brad.

Ben ignored his brother's attempts at humour and opened the door, seeing Brad waiting outside in his pyjamas. Brad was Ben's identical twin brother, and were similar in many ways. They looked pretty much the same; Brad also very tall, slim, his dark-brown hair kept short, rarely ever brushing against his ears, their skin tanned from the ever-bright sun that shone in the sky. But right now, as every morning, they sported tired eyes and unhappy faces.

"All yours." Ben mumbled to his brother as headed towards his room to find clothes for the day.

--

The Garnel family was composed of Laurence Garnel, head-architect for a major contractor in downtown Miami. He has to leave the house early every morning, so Ben and Brad, the only children of the family, both aged of 17 years old, don't see their family very much. Louise Garnel, a professor of Law at the University of Miami, is the mother of the boys and Laurence's loving wife. The family was rather way off, living in a neighborhood that co-existed with the upper ranks of the city. Ben drove his own car, a flashy new black Chrysler Crossfire convertible, his pride and joy!

--

"See you at school" Ben said to his brother as he stepped into his car.

"Yup" said Brad, without any enthusiasm as he turned the key of his convertible metallic blue BMW Z4.

To Benjamin Garnel, a mediocre student and relative nobody, this day was going to be like every other. However, evolution doesn't choose when and who it will bless, or curse, and today was his day to evolve...


	2. Discovery

Ben looked at his watch after parking his car in Liberty Creek High School's parking lot. Five minutes before the bell... gotta hurry or Mrs. Nadeau's going to blow a gasket. He slammed the car door and darted towards the front door of his High School, not bothering to look back and see if his brother was following or not.

"Ditching class again..." Ben thought, frustrated at his brother for skipping another class. "Whatever, he'll deal with it."

The bell rang as Ben swung the door open. Is his watch late? It didn't matter to Ben anymore; he started a mad dash up the stairs towards his history class.

--

"Benjamin Garnel!" shouted Francine Nadeau, everyone's _favorite_ history teacher. "You're late, again!"

"Sorry" grumbled Ben as he took his seat at the back of the room and glanced at the clock above the door. There was a rumor that Mrs. Nadeau constantly changes the time on it, purpously making them late. Ben figured she had pushed the time forward another two minutes. It didn't matter anyway, the class was about to start and an assured boredom was to come with it.

Ben looked up at his history teacher and remembered why she wasn't the most liked teacher in the faculty. She was a short, skinny woman, with short white and gray hair, a pair of thin glasses resting upon her crooked nose and hidiously spaced yellow teeth behind her pursed lips. She had a reputation of being as unfair as she was eccentric, sometimes singing an old 60s song in the middle of the class, probably just to see who was actually still awake.

Mrs. Nadeau explained that they were going to a watch a video on god-knows-what sleep-inducing subject. Ben knew he wouldn't pay attention, and would probably just rest his head against his binder with his eyes closed like everyone else. The room was dark with the lights out, and Mrs. Nadeau never seemed to notice.

The video had barely started when a note flew onto Ben's desk, coming in from the left. Ben's friend Peter, a boy almost exactly his age, with thick glasses and freckles heavily amplified with the contrast created by his black hair.He was a bit shorter then Ben, about 5 feet 10 inches, and as thin as a toothpick. Like all the students in Mrs. Nadeau's class, he would rather goof off then pay attention to the video.

Ben unfolded the paper and read his friend's untidy note; "GOING TO SLEEP, TTY AFTER CLASS". Ben let out a small laugh and threw the note back to Peter, who crossed his arms on his desk and rested his head on them.

The history class was full of books, posters, maps, shelves, and flags. Basically, there was a your eyes could roam too if you're not paying attention. Ben wasn't a very big history fan, but everything seemed a lot more interesting when in such a situation. His eyes darted from a map of the 13 colonies, to the Maginot line in 1939, to a modern map of Florida, to ... the lights above the classroom. They were simple neons, emanating no light, leaving the class in complete darkness save for the black and white shining from the TV and VCR. Ben had never payed any attention to the lights before, they were only lights after all. Today though, even considering the boredom, they were interesting. Thin neons, the kind you'd see anywhere, all evenly spaced throughout the class.

Ben closed his eyes, expecting to doze off. He felt oddly concentrated though, still centered on the lights above him. He looked up again, staring, focusing on them, when, inexplicably, the neons flashed on and emited the brightest light they had ever shown in their existence. The room was completely flooded with a pure white light, catching all the sleepy students and their dilated pupils off-guard.

There was a sudden, general upheaval of confusion and surprise, mixed with the anger of being woken up too. The light was so bright, it was almost blinding.

"Who hit the lights?" yelled a girl near the front of the class.

"My eyes! What the hell??" shouted another.

"Somebody shut those off!" cried yet another.

Mrs. Nadeau ran to the light switches, which were still in the "off" position. She flicked them up and down, the pure white light shining as bright as ever.

Ben was shielding his eyes, his being hit directly by the light. "What was going on? What caused this?" Suddenly he looked up to the neons.

"SHUT OFF!!!" Ben screamed, looking directly into the lights overhead.

Inexplicably, the room was suddenly plunged in the same complete darkness it was in only 10 seconds before.

The class was silent now, the only sound coming from Mrs. Nadeau's video. She slowly walked towards the light switches, which were still in the "off" position. Cautiously, slowly, she stretched out her finger and flicked the switches.

The classroom was filled with an ambient white glow, the neons shining as they were meant to. The whole class still confused, many still rubbing their eyes.

"Okay, what just happenned?" asked a student.

Everyone was looking at Mrs. Nadeau now. She was as confused as everyone else. Less then a minute ago, everyone was blinded by what seemed to some kind of mechanical malfunction with the lights.

"Class dismissed" she said softly, as she slowly lowered herself onto her chair.


	3. Was it real?

"Was that real? Did I do that?"

Ben's head was spinning from what had just happenned in the history room.

"How was it possible? It can't have been me..." Ben thought to himself as he made his way towards his locker.

Ben was dialing in the combination to his lock when he felt a presence behind him.

"Hey Ben! One hell of a class, huh?"

Ben turned around and saw his friend and co-owner of the locker, Peter, standing in front of him.

"Hey Pete. Yeah, that was pretty weird." Ben said quietly as he turned back to the locker and relieved himself of his books and binder.

Since Mrs. Nadeau ended her class early, they each had about 45 minutes until their next class, so Ben and Peter decided to kill time at the cafeteria.

"I bet there was some kind of short in the electrical circuit or something like that, that's what made the lights go berserk." Peter pondered.

"Wow, I really hope so." Said Ben

Peter seemed surprised. "What do you mean, you hope so?"

Ben gulped. "N-nothing, I mean, uhm, I'm just glad it's nothing worse."

Peter raised an eyebrow behind his thick glasses, obviously not buying it. Ben realised this quickly and shot up from his chair.

"I'll see you later!" Ben said hastily as he left the cafeteria, leaving his friend alone and confused.

As he left the cafeteria, Ben crossed a student he knew as Kyle Hedberg, a new kid who was on the swim team with Bradley. He was supposed to be very good, and aspiring to become captain of the swim team, a title currently occupied by Brad. Bradley was really a great swimmer, but Ben knew his brother would be concerned about this new kid taking his place as captain.

"Hey there, Garnel" said Kyle with a smile on his face. He looked oddly smug today, and Ben understood why his brother didn't like him.

"Hello Kyle" said Ben.

Kyle was beaming. "Guess what?? You have the honours of looking at the new captain of the Liberty Creek High School swim team! Hey... wasn't it your brother before?"

Ben suspected Kyle already knew the answer to that question. "Well, good for you. I hope you lead the team to as many gold medals as my brother did."

Before Kyle could even answer, Ben had continued on his way, now heading to the computer lab, planning on getting some answers on what happenned in the history class.

--

The computer lab was a dusty room filled with 35 old computers, each of them identical in every way save for how many coffee stains and smudges they sported. Heading to the back of the room and signing into his student profile, Ben started up a search engine and typed in "overpowerful neon flash".

Nothing relevant, just lots of crap.

Reformulating, he typed in "short circuit in lights"

Ben got a few promising results, but upon further investigation, there was nothing relevant.

Finally, he sighed and punched in "Human control over light".

There was one result that immediately caught Ben's attention. It was an article on a scientific website by a doctor named Chandra Suresh, intituled "The Next Step in Human Evolution."

"Human evolution? What does that have to do with anything?" Ben asked himself as he scrolled down to the table of contents. Doctor Suresh seemed like a really strange man, with an even weirder theory.

The table of contents had such entries as "Human Flight", "Spontaneous Regeneration", "Heightened senses" and... "Photokinesis". Ben knew he was getting somewhere now. He clicked on the link, and a very long text appeared, detailing how some people, due to human evolution, would gain the ability to manipulate light and shadow.

Ben swallowed and, noticing his watch, which notified him that if he didn't leave soon, he would be late again, quickly logged out and left the lab.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Ben didn't try doing anything to the lights again, rather scared to see what would happen. By the end of the day, he had made a plan, and put whatever was happenning to him to a test.


	4. Illumination

Ben's room was small and tidy, just the way he liked it. Normally, he'd be in front of the computer, doing homework, listening to music, or whatever. Tonight, however, the focus of his attention was the lamp on his desk.

Ben was sitting on his computer chair, sitting directly in front of the lamp. All the other lights were out; so the only illumination was what was coming from the bulb of the lamp. Ben still didn't know for sure what had happenned that morning in his history class, or what to make of that article he had finished reading just a few minutes earlier.

Was he one of those people, who that Indian doctor talked about so much in his article?

"Only one way to find out, I guess." Ben thought to himself as he stared into the light bulb.

He had no idea what to expect, what to think about. The doctor's speculations about manipulating light didn't exactly come with an instructions manual. Come to think of it, Ben had no idea what he was even doing. Was he trying to turn off the light? To make it shine as bright as in the history class? He had no idea.

Ben sighed. Maybe he didn't even have this special ability. Maybe he was just deluding himself into thinking he had some kind of magical power. At this point it might make as much sense to go look for Merlin and ask _him_ for advice.

Ben got up and reached behind the lamp for the switch when something caught his eye. As he brought his hand near the light bulb, a small trail of pure white followed it. It was so thin, and seemed so fragile. A shiver going down his spine, Ben focused on the bulb again, this time both hands on either side of the lamp.

The lamp dimmed as the light was robbed from it, being pulled onto both of Ben's hands. Small balls of pure white energy were being formed, shining brighter then the lamp itself. The light flowing from the bulb looked like a veil; it was so thin, and Ben could just see through it.

It was beautiful. By this time, the lightbulb was emitting no more light, as it was all directly between Ben's hands. He brought his palms side by side, holding the pure white light before him. His eyes were wide open, his mouth had dropped in awe and shock. It was such a beautiful sight; the small sphere in Ben's hands illuminating all around him.

He could do it... it _was _him that morning.

"Unbelievable..." Ben muttered, looking down at the sphere of light.

His heart was racing, his face was still in an expression of shock, and he felt short of breath.

Ben concentrated more on the rotating white sphere in his hands, trying to see how he could change it.

"Grow..." Ben thought to himself, as he focused more and more. Finally, the sphere shone brighter, casting a stronger light into the room.

Ben couldn't help but smile. Looking back at the lifeless lamp, between brought his hands closer to the lightbulb and tried to re-channel the light.

The white veils reappeared as the sphere slowly started dwindling down and the light in the lightbulb began to reappear. Ben pushed it harder, and the light re-channeled faster, until the lamp was shining brightly, much brighter then normal. Ben, fearing the bulb might break, touched the lamp with his left hand and concentrated, hoping to diminish it.

The horrid sound of glass shattering was heard in the room as the lightbulb exploded, sending pieces of glass all over Ben's desk.

"Oops." Ben said, cracking a smile.

--

Peter was just finishing up his English homework when he heard his mom shout his name, telling him there was a phone call for him.

"Hello?" said Peter, picking up the receiver.

Peter had to bring the receiver away from his ear when he heard Ben's voice shout:

"I DID IT!!"


	5. Shadow and revenge

Kyle Heberg often trained 5 times a week for one hour in the school's pool. Today, like most days, he was swimming alone. The lifeguard often left early when Kyle was alone; he knew he wouldn't have to babysit.

Being captain of the swim team was a huge accomplishment for him, happy to dethrone the "legendary" Bradley Garnel. To Kyle, Brad was a bit of a freak. Tall, strange and only speaking when he had something to say. He was a good swimmer, of course.

"But nothing like I am!" Kyle grinned as he continued crawling laps in the lenght of the pool.

The pool was in a tall, shabby room covered entirely in tiles, illuminated only with bright neons hanging overhead, casting a whitish glow in the water. The pool water was clean and crystal clear; Kyle hardly needed his goggles to see the other end of the pool.

"Another twenty to go..." Kyle thought to himself as he accelerated his pace, hoping to shave off as much time from his previous record as he could.

Then, oddly, the lights overhead began to flash and dim...

--

Steve Barrey, head security agent, was sitting idly at his computer in the security room playing solitaire. He was a man in his mid 50s, slightly overweight with hair and moustache going gray. Taking his eyes away from his computer screen, he directed his eyes to the security monitors before him.

Nothing unusual, of course, that Hedberg kid was still swimming laps in the pool, Barney the janitor was mopping one of the hallways, and every other monitor showed nothing but stillness and emptiness. However, there was one monitor that started blinkind strangely. The camera system was old of course, but it had never flashed or anything before. Steve looked at the label under the monitor and realised it was for the camera for the hallway outside the security room. Taking a closer look, he noticed it was the lightbulb that seemed to be flashing.

"Damn lightbulb. Better tell Barney." Grunted the security guard as he reached for his walkie-talkie. Just as he put his fingers around it, the light outside the room was extinguished, and Steve heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps just outside. They were fast and loud, as though someone was running.

"What the hell...?" said Steve as the light in the security room suddenly became dim and shut off, leaving the security guard in complete darkness. Nervous, he felt around and touched the wall and made his way to the door and went through.

"W-who's there? Are you okay?"

Steve swallowed hard and reached for his flashlight.

He heard the steps again; they were right in front of him. Switching on his flashlight, Steve pointed the bright light onto the figure before him.

"I prefer the dark." Said the voice of a young man softly.

Steve was startled beyond belief, but that was nothing compared to the fear he felt when his flashlight suddenly went dead.

"ARGH!!" screamed Steve when he felt an immense blunt pain in the back of his head. Instinctively, he reached behind his head and felt a thick trail of warm blood streaming down. Suddenly seeing stars and feeling faint, his heavy frame collapsed onto the cold floor.

--

"That's strange..." Kyle thought to himself as the lights above him continued to blink.

Suddenly, one neon went dead, followed by another, then another, and another, all in perfect order, until the large room of the pool was completely black. No light was even coming through the windows looking into the reception of the sports complex.

Kyle, suspecting a power failure, blindly made his way to the ladder leading out of the pool. The floor was wet and slippery, and Kyle knew he'd have to be careful or he'd risk splitting his skull against the tiles. Keeping his hand against the wall and slowly making his way to his towel, planning to take the secondary exit which lead to a hallway, right beside the security office. His heart was racing. He'd never admit it, but Kyle was rather afraid of all this. The footsteps that came were rather uncomforting also.

"Hello!? Anybody there?" shouted Kyle, hoping for a friendly voice in response.

Suddenly a neon not far behind him started flashing and a spot of light was illuminated on the floor. Quickly turning himself around seeing a dark figure standing in front of him, holding what looked like a tire iron in his hand, blood dripping down onto the floor.

Kyle felt a cold sweat.

"I know you... what do you want from me!?" he stuttered.

Despite the darkness, Kyle saw a smile appear on the shadowy figure's face. He brought up his right hand and, oddly, snapped his pinky and ring fingers. As soon as the sound was heard, the partly-lit neon was out again.

"Oh God..."

Before Kyle could turn to run, he felt a huge pain beyong his left knee.

Screaming in pain and getting down on his right knee, Kyle turned around and started crawling towards the exit.

"Help me!! Somebody help me!!" shouted Kyle Hedberg, crawling as fast as he could. His left knee was probably broken... it had never hurt so much in his entire life.

"You should know your place" said a calm voice, sounding like it was about 10 feet behind him.

"You'll pay" said the same voice, across the pool.

"Perhaps you'll learn from this" came the voice from the stands above them.

"And now..." this time from directly behind him.

Tears were going down Kyle's face as he crawled as fast as his elbows and one functional leg would take him. He was fearing for his life... what kind of pyscho was this?

"...it's time to get even."

All the lights suddenly flashed and were shining again, illuminating the whole room, leaving Bradley Garnel and his bloody tire iron, crouching beside his victim with a machiavelic grin on his face.

Kyle screamed in horror and tried to get up and run but quickly collapsed on his shattered knee, tumbling forward and landing face-first on the cold tile. Hard.

Brad chuckled and stood up, slowly walking to Kyle's immobile body. He was breathing, but had his eyes closed and had a huge gash on his forehead, some of his blood mixing with the droplets of water lying on the floor.

"A concussion... a coma if I'm lucky." Brad thought to himself as he made his way to the exit, tapping his bloody tire iron in his hand.

Taking one last glance at Kyle's motionless body, Bradly grinned.

"You see? That's why they say no running!"


	6. Realisation

_Dedicated to all the people who read this story and who love Heroes, but especially to my cousin Kim; dear friend, amazing writer, and avid fan! Keep writing Kim, we'll all keep reading_

--

The Garnel family was sitting down for dinner, enjoying a plate of pork chops and white rice. Ben and Brad's father always wanted the news on while they ate, much to the dismay of their mother. Ben normally didn't pay much attention, but today the news was very close to home.

The TV screen showed a reporter in a suit standing outside the High School, with several police cars and an ambulance just outside, along with news vans.

"Two people were savagely beaten today in the sports complex of Liberty Creek High School. The police have disclosed their names; Steve Barrey, head of Security and agent on duty last night, and Kyle Hedberg, 16, captain of the swim team. This reporter spoke with the police earlier."

The screen switched to a police officer surrounded with reporters sticking microphones and tape recorders into his face.

"The two victims were found last night by the janitor, unconscious with severe blunt trauma wounds. The security agent was hit with a single blow in the back of the head, causing a severe concussion. He is currently in the hospital, and is said to be stable. The second, the kid, suffered a broken leg and trauma to the face and forehead. We believe he tried to run, but fell and landed face-first. He is also stable, and should be released by next week."

One reporter quickly slipped in a question:

"The sports complex must have security cameras, why aren't there any suspects?"

The cop paused for a moment.

"The cameras… seemed to have suffered a malfunction shortly before the incident. Neither of the attacks were recorded."

The report switched back to the reporter.

"A strange case indeed. We heard from unconfirmed sources that all the lights in the building died just before the attacks, and were fully functional again only a few minutes later."

--

Another school day. Another morning which started with the loud alarm. This morning, however, Ben found that his brother was already up when the alarm rang. Perplexed, he went straight downstairs and saw his twin on the telephone.

"I'm sorry, doctor Suresh, you must have the wrong number." said Bryan into the receiver as he quickly hung up.

Ben made a confused face and asked his brother "Who was that?"

"Nobody, just a wrong number." Said Brad as he passed Ben and made his way upstairs.

_Did he say Suresh? The Indian doctor?_

--

Ben was anxious to see his friend Peter that day. They didn't get the chance to see each other the previous day, which was the day after Ben realised what he could do. Pete undoubtedly had a lot of questions, and probably the name of some psychiatrist. Sceptical as he was, Ben would surely have to show his friend some proof.

"Ben!" called the familiar voice of Peter as he came running through the school's hallway.

"Hey Pete… I bet you have a lot of questions."

"No, of course not… everyone has their moments of insanity anyway."

"Insanity?"

"Of course!" Peter was smiling wide, which made Ben rather irritated, "everyone wishes they were special at times, or that they could do something special. But the fact that you're trying to take credit for what happened in Nadeau's class is kinda perplexing."

Ben sighed heavily, but then smirked.

"You have your lighter?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna smoke a cigarette in the hallway?"

"Just light it up, you'll see." Ben said eagerly.

Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out a cheap butane lighter, the kind you can get for 99 cents at a convenience store. He put his thumb on the roller and a small flame appeared at the time of the lighter.

"Watch this" said Ben as he put his left hand over the flame, covering it. He concentrated and emptied his lungs, then quickly brought his hand back.

The light orange colour which gave the fire its substance was gone. The air near the top of the lighter was still being distorted by the heat, like clear smoke rising up.

Peter's mouth opened, but no words came out. His eyes were fixed on his lighter, the burning butane emitting no light.

"Touch it." Ben said with a smirk.

The fingers on Peter's free hand were brought close to the flame, until he winced in pain and brought his hand back.

"It's still hot…" Peter said quietly

"I told you…. I can… borrow light. I really can't explain it, Pete… but it's cool, isn't it?"

Ben opened his hand and a small, bright orb of pure light was spinning in his palm. Grinning, Ben brought his hand back to the lighter and let the light flow back into the flame, giving it back its yellow glow.

--

"Did you guys hear about Kyle" was a line that could have broken the record for repetition. The sports complex was closed off with yellow police-tape, and the principal had warned the school not to interfere. There were all kinds of rumours going around; apparently Barney the janitor saw something.

Ben and Peter were having lunch in the cafeteria when their friend Alexander joined them.

"Did you guys hear about Kyle? The janitor knows something, you know…"

Alexander was a short guy with a black buzz-cut, little round ears and a childish smile. He rarely talked about anything serious, but today was different.

"Yeah, we heard he's in the hospital… some savage beating apparently, and he'll be a vegetable for a while." Ben said, "They say there aren't any suspects yet, because of the cameras and the lighting."

Alexander seemed eager to keep talking. "The janitor said the lights were acting funny… and that there was someone running in the shadows, but the steps kept moving, like from one end of the building to another." His smile disappeared then, "People are suspecting your brother, Ben… I heard Kyle's girlfriend talking to her gang… they said they want to get even."

Ben had trouble swallowing his bite of ham sandwich. True, Brad might want to get back at Kyle for taking his spot as captain. Brad didn't talk about it much… but Ben knew he _hated_ the new kid. But would he be capable of doing such a thing…? Ben really wasn't sure…

"You mentioned the lights" said Peter to Alexander.

"Yeah," replied Alexander, "the janitor said he never saw anything like it before. The lights in and around the pool and the security room stopped working for a few minutes, and then after Kyle and the security guard were beat up, they were good as new."

Ben and Peter exchanged worried looks.

"You know, I heard Brad mention doctor Suresh, the guy who wrote all that stuff about evolution." Said Ben

"What are you talking about?" Inquired Alexander, raising an eyebrow

"You don't mean… you think it's genetic, that Brad as it too?" asked Peter, ignoring Alexander.

"It might be… but if it is, that means he did that to Kyle and the guard…" Ben said slowly

"Genetic? Brad? What exactly are you talking about?" asked Alexander, visibly getting annoyed.

"And if Kyle's gang wants revenge… he could hurt more people!

"I have to find him before they do… and make sure he doesn't go too far this time."

Alexander looked ready to kill; "Okay, is someone gonna TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?"


	7. Revelation

Ben went straight home after school that day. With the pool area still sealed off, Brad's swim practice was cancelled, so he would undoubtedly be at home as well.

Was Brad really capable of nearly killing those two people? That was a question Ben asked himself the whole drive home. He was lucky not to get a speeding ticket; being so anxious to get home and talk to his brother in private.

Ben didn't know what to think. Everything about this was so confusing; with the beatings, the lights… the threats. Doctor Suresh said in his article that human evolution was through genetics… Ben and Brad, being identical twins, shared the same DNA, so if one of them was part of Suresh's… evolution, the other would be too. But how, how did he do what he did? Ben had to concentrate just to make his lights go dim, but the lights in the sports complex were _all _being manipulated, and he used his ability to hurt the guard and his rival Kyle.

And now Kyle's gang wants to get even.

Ben didn't want his brother hurting more people, but he was more worried about Kyle's gang getting to him. Who knows what they could do…?

Brad's car was already parked when Ben arrived home.

"Wow, he's early." Ben thought to himself as he walked through the front door.

Their parents weren't home yet, but they were to arrive in less then half an hour. Ben called out his brother's name, and heard his response from upstairs. Taking a deep breath, he started up the stairs to Brad's room.

Pushing the door open, Ben saw his brother lying on his bed reading a book. Brad kept his nose in his book and didn't give any notice to Ben.

Ben took another deep breath and said "You did this to Kyle, didn't you?"

Brad just kept reading.

"What makes you say that?"

Feeling very uneasy, Ben kept on. "Well… there's something I need to show you. You'll see, it's related."

This time Brad looked up towards his twin.

Ben turned his attention to the lamp hanging from the ceiling of the room. It was emitting an ambient light from a single light bulb, the only source of light in the room. The shades were pulled, and Ben had closed the door behind him.

Putting his hand out in front of him, his palm facing the lamp, Ben closed his eyes and starting concentrating. He was nervous… very nervous. If Brad is the one responsible for those beatings, then he's dangerous. Ben wondered if he could be next…

Ben opened his eyes and focused harder. Then, slowly, the white light started floating from the light bulb overhead and into Ben's palm. For fear of breaking his concentration, he didn't look at his brother. Before long, the bulb was emitting no light, and the room was plunged in darkness, save for the shiny glow coming from the sphere in Ben's palm.

"So… this is related to Kyle because –"

Before Ben could finish his sentence however, the sphere vanished and the room was in complete darkness. This wasn't Ben's doing… he had better control then that.

"Brad!? Are you there?" Ben called out in the darkness.

The only response was from the light bulb on the ceiling, which suddenly started glowing again. However, Ben was shocked to see that his brother wasn't lying in his bed anymore. In fact, he was nowhere to been seen.

Before Ben could even panic, there was a knock at the bedroom door, just behind him. Ben quickly turned around and flung open the door, and saw his twin brother Bradley standing before him, leaning against the door framing with a grin on his face.

"Some family." He said quietly, as he brought up his hand which held a small orb of pure black.

"Shadow….?" Ben asked under his breath.

"You bet" was the answer as Brad's grin turned into a malicious smile. "And yes, I am happy to say that I did to that to Kyle."


	8. Plannification

_It's been a long time since my last update, I know! __I've been unbelievably busy with work and stuff, and I just haven't been in the right mood to write. Fortunately, my fascination with Heroes hasn't waned, and a new asset for creativity has just made itself available to me, so now you can count on more frequent updates. Enjoy!_

Kyle's friends often haunted the dug-outs of a baseball field, about three miles away from the High School. Naturally, people tended to stay clear of that area; Kyle and his friends were nicknamed the baseball-bashers, due their recurring place of congregation, and often violent nature involving, obviously, baseball bats. It was no secret to anyone, the Bashers were violent people. Despite claiming not to look for trouble, trouble always seems to find them. That comes off as innocence to some, and hypocrisy to others.

"They might not look for trouble, but trouble was going to find them" thought Bradley Garnel as he drove his BWM Z4 towards the baseball field. He made sure to take his time, let the sun set. There was no doubt in his mind that the Bashers would be there, and there was no doubt about what their intentions were. Clearly they felt that retribution was in order, and justifiable, not unlike what Brad had done to Kyle. The situations were quite similar, but what Kyle's pathetic posse wanted to do was quite different, and Brad realised it now.

They're worms. Insignificant remnants of the past. People like Brad, however, are the future, and compared to such gorillas, he was a god. The abilities he possessed, the power that flowed from his DNA, made him undeniably superior to anyone still belonging to the obsolete Homo Sapiens Sapiens race.

There was no reason to fear, believed Brad. He repeated that line to himself again and again as he watched the sun sink behind the Miami skyscrapers.

--

"I say we just bash the fucker's head in!" exclaimed a particularly angry young man with a baseball bat, sitting on the bench of a dug out, just outside a baseball diamond. The field was flooded by light emanating from lights, held high up by tall posts. The dug outs were filthy and covered in graffiti, and the smell of alcohol and cannabis was ever-present.

"I say we just scare him. Show him that next time he messes with us, he'll really regret it" muttered a shorter boy, leaning apathetically against the discoloured paint of the wooden wall.

They were 8 of them. Good friends of Kyle Hedberg, captain of the swim team, B-class student, former chess player, and long-time member of the gang known as the Baseball Bashers.

"You know what he did to Kyle, Bergy, we can't let that little shit get away with it!" screamed the angry one.

"You want another assault charge, Joey?" riposted the shorter one named Bergy. "Or do you wanna down-right kill him? Look, there's no evidence against Garnel, but if we mess him up, there _will _be evidence against us. Don't do anything stupid, or we'll all be –" Bergy couldn't finish his sentence before a fist flew into his jaw, cutting open his lips and sending shockwaves through his mouth.

"Shut the fuck up, Bergy!" yelled several other Bashers simultaneously.

Emotions were very high, and reason was often the first victim of anger.

Before the situation could degenerate further, a girl's voice was heard.

"LISTEN!" yelled Isabel Stewart, Kyle's girlfriend.

The Bashers turned around and faced her. She was 17, with shoulder-length black hair, dark brown eyes, and a history of being rash. Bergy slowly stood up, holding his sore jaw, still dripping blood.

Isabel took a deep breath and clenched her fists, her face cold and stern.

"He has to suffer" she said slowly.

There was no reaction from the seven other Bashers. They merely continued to stare.

"Don't kill him… but make damn sure he feels every bit of pain he made my Kyle feel… and then some."

Isabel turned to the bench behind her and grabbed her backpack. She slowly unzipped it, and pulled out a crowbar.

"I'll deliver the finishing blow myself," Isabel looked up at Bergy's bloody jaw and smiled.

"Right across the face, just like little Bergy here. We'll get him tonight, right in his damn house."

The Bashers all exchanged looks at eachother, mentally preparing themselves to exact their friend's revenge. They walked out, slowly, onto the field.

Oddly, the lights, held high by posts near home plate, starting blinking…


End file.
